WIC Education

The WIC Outreach and Education program addresses the uses of all of the foods presented on the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food package to pregnant and postpartum women and their young families, as well as nutrition topics concerning pregnant women, parents, and children through the age of five. Clients learn healthy food choices and how to plan and prepare nutritious meals for their families. All educational activities and materials have been developed using the 2015 Dietary guidelines, USDA’s MyPlate.

Cooking demonstrations are scheduled on a monthly basis at each WIC clinic throughout the state of Delaware. Each demonstration consists of a different recipe, highlighting foods available in the WIC food packages. Sessions consist of rolling demonstrations that showcase the meal preparation as well as enable participants and their families to sample the completed recipe. Cooking demonstrations and nutrition education workshops also take place in community locations, such as child care centers, local farmers’ markets, and local libraries. Each participant will receive a MyPlate grocery bag, a cookbook that focuses on WIC package foods, and an additional item such as a MyPlate Dairy Cup, or MyPlate Soup and Salad Bowl. The goal of the demonstrations is to include a variety of foods from the WIC food package in an easy and appealing recipe to show the versatility of the package foods, eventually increasing consumption of healthy foods from all categories of My-Plate, and helping participants to learn the value of continuing their participation in WIC until their child is 5 years old. Evaluation will include following up to determine the effectiveness of the program and usefulness of the incentives.

The program is presented by the WIC Education Specialists, working at WIC clinics and community locations throughout the state of Delaware. It is intended for WIC recipients as a collaboration between the Delaware WIC Program and the Food Bank of Delaware, to further educate participants about the benefits of the WIC food package, encourage full usage of all products, and increase program participation in children over the age of 1 year. Some recipes from cooking demonstrations in the past include: